CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Supreme Court Justice Elect Beth Walker will be the third woman on the High Court when she takes office in January 2017.
Walker, a Morgantown attorney, won the seat in Tuesday’s Primary Election. She will join Justice Robin Davis and Justice Margaret Workman along with Justice Menis Ketchum and Justice Allen Loughry.
“I’m really excited that West Virginia will have a majority of women on the court. I think West Virginians are open to the best candidates whether they be men or women,” Walker said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Walker was one of four candidates in the Supreme Court race, which was nonpartisan this year.
“I think we were fortunate enough to win the votes of Republicans and Democrats and folks all over the political spectrum,” she said. “I hope, gradually, we begin more and more to look at the justice race and the judges races as truly non-partisan.”
A conservative vision, Walker said, is what she plans to bring to the High Court.
“I am very committed to the rule of law,” she said. “I’m quite confident that my endorsements and other support were based on my commitment to being fair and impartial and not any expectation of a way to rule in particular cases.”
During her campaign, Walker, a Republican, was endorsed by GOP state leaders including U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and 3rd District Congressman Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) and state Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer).
Additional endorsements came from the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, West Virginia State Medical Association, the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the West Virginia Business and Industry Council and the West Virginia Coal Association.
“I really do think it matters when you have the opportunity to meet people and talk with folks personally, so they can judge for themselves what they think of you as a candidate and as a potential justice of the Supreme Court,” she said of her campaign.
Walker ran against longtime Justice Brent Benjamin who was seeking reelection, Bill Wooten, Wayne King and Darrel McGraw.
She’ll take the seat that Benjamin now holds. It’s a 12 year term that runs through 2029.